My letter of complaint sent to Century Link & Dish Network
We had a really, really bad day with your company(ies) yesterday. Let me tell you about it and see if you agree that your customer service is, shall we say, âlackingâ.
First of all, our high speed internet service went downâ¦..again. This is more times this year than we can even remember, but itâs the second time within just a month or so. Even the person at tech support said the company is constantly working on the lines, which crashes the system. We run a business that relies completely on our internet service. When our internet service isnât working, our business grinds to a complete halt. We have had to go to Panera Bread just to be able to get online and conduct business!! If your internet service canât be depended on, then we will have to find one that is.
Next, we received another Dish Network bill in which we were overcharged. This happens on our regular basis too. I can provide you with numerous pages of notes we have made of all the phone conversations we have had with your customer service reps since we signed up for Dish Network service back in Dec. of 2009. Originally, we called around for pricing with several companies and talked to Dish Network several times before making the decision to switch from DirectTV. We were told each time that we spoke with Dish Network customer service that we would pay $59.99 a month plus tax for the package and the DVR/HD, etc. for the first year and then it would go up to $74.99 in the second year. After signing up, just a couple of months later, we get a notice that rates were going up. Our DVR rental would now go from $7 to $14 and the âClassicâ package was no longer availableâ¦.we would now be in the American Top 200 package. OK, whatever you want to call it, fine. The problem is that youâre doing it on purpose to completely confuse the customer. If everything changes regularly, thereâs no way to compare billings or packages. When we called to complain about the increase we got a few months of credits. Then we bundledâ¦..and oh good lord the fun has multiplied. Weâre getting a $5 bundle credit but our bill this last month went up $12 despite that credit. We didnât change a thing from the month before but our bill was $70.99â¦.not the promised $59.99. How did that happen when our first year wasnât up yet?!?!?! So that was another phone call and the discovery that we were charged $6 for the service plan that was supposed to be free for 9 months and we only got 8. We got a credit and the plan was removed from our account. But the bottom line monthly bill was still $10 higher than $59.99 so another call was in order. This time when I used the term âdeceptiveâ in describing Dish Networks rates and billing, the customer service representative decided to examine the account again to see what could be done. Miraculously, she discovered that we were getting the HD Platinum channels with such mind-blowingly compelling fare as World Fishing Network HD and Fashion TV HD. How have we lived without this programming all these years? And to think I could have been watching fishing in HD and I didnât even know it! Whatâs next âPaint Drying HDâ? I not only didnât know we had these channels, nobody told us we were getting them either. I certainly wouldnât want them or pay for them. Now the Fox Business Network would be nice to finally get, but NHL Network HD is sure not whatâs been missing in my life. So, I must ask the question: how the hell did this âPlatinum HDâ package get on our account? Back to customer service: guess what, that package just happens to be $10 a month. Remove it and weâre back to the $59.99 monthly charge that will bring us back to happy subscriber land again.
Geesâ¦.what a scam. Every time a bill arrives, my head just about explodes trying to figure it out. Charges, credits, HD, Platinum HD, Service plans and on and on and pretty soon weâve been bamboozled! So, now I have circled the date on my calendar for the time the next bill will be landing in my mailbox, so I can set aside another hour to figure it out and call customer service to get adjustments made. I canât wait! Did I mention the time we had the free trial HBO cancelled and the customer service representative wanted to charge us a $5 change of package fee? You give us something free in the hopes weâll forget about it or want to keep it and then you want to charge us for removing what we didnât want in the first place. I can go on and on but my blood pressure monitor is starting to beep.
Now on to problem number 3 yesterday. At the end of my time on the phone with âBobbieâ in customer service, she offered to me without my saying anything about the $16 in credits, that she could not advise me to subtract it from my bill (I hadnât even considered it at that point) and that I should call Century Link since they handle all the billing. I said okâ¦.and thought âIâve killed half an afternoon on this already and well, my internet service isnât up yet (thanks again Century Link) so why not? So, I launched into my 3rd call to your company(ies) of the day. Yes, Iâm a masochist. But Bobbie was actually nice so maybeâ¦â¦ But it was not to be. This time I got somebody who sounded like Underdogâs alter ego, ShoeShine Boy. If I didnât know that Wally Cox was pushing daisies, I would have thought he was moonlighting for Century Link. Everything started out OK as I explained that I had a $16 credit coming from Dish Network and wondered if I could go ahead and subtract that off my bill. Shoeshine boy must have stepped into his phonebooth and took a super energy pill out of his ring because before I knew it he was literally insulting my intelligence. He told me that canât be done because Century Link will have already paid all our fees and I will just have to wait for the next bill for the credits. When I explained that his cohort over on the Dish Network side told me to call because Century Link handles all the billing, SSB said âwell, now that wouldnât make much sense would itâ? Huh? Iâm a customer doing what I was instructed to do but am now being told that doing so didnât make much sense. When I suggested that he was basically calling me stupid, he gathered his biggest Underdog voice and said âdonât put words in my mouthâ. Then he did what any self-respecting cartoon superhero would do and said âhave a nice dayâ and hung up on me! I was beginning to utter the phrase âwhat is your nameâ to indicate my âmad as hell customer statusâ when he was gone just like a speeding bullet. So, is this how you train customer service reps? When cornered, slam down the phone quicklyâ¦..but be sure and say âhave a nice dayâ first!!
I can guarantee you weâll be gone faster than a speeding bullet as soon as our contract is up with Dish Network, unless this billing gets straightened out. And as for Century Linkâ¦.exactly which century are you referring to? Iâd say the previous one considering the quality of service you provide.
Anybody out there agree the quality of customer service weâve received is inadequate?

Company Response 08/23/2010:jandacinnamon,

My name is Joey and I'm with CenturyLink. I'm terribly sorry to read about the trouble you've had with our company. I'll be more than happy to offer my assistance to you. You can email me at Joey@CenturyLink.com. Thanks.

Joey H
CenturyLink Customer Outreach
Reachout@CenturyLink.com

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Fees, Overcharges, Fraudulent Early Term Charges

Posted by John33 on 05/14/2012

Rating: 1/51

WARNING: Do Business With CenturyLink/Qwest At Your OWN Risk! As Youâre Playing With a Very LARGE, dumb, and dirty company. Donât be surprised if you LOSE.

Our small business was solicited by Qwest to switch from standard copper lines to their T1 service, which is phone and internet service. This service was to be billed at $517 per month. To my surprise for the first six months Qwest billed me $1,500 per month. Simple mistake? I donât think so. I was forced to spend countless resources and hours and hours of time to correct their billing errors. Theyâd never admit to the error but give the account a âcreditâ. Really? Why donât they call it for what it is? Itâs a âcorrectionâ!

As a small business owner nothing is more important and critical to me than my phone and internet system. We live and die by the performance of our phones. So itâs absolutely critical to me that weâre provided good phone service as my livelihood along with my employeeâs live hoodâs and clients depend on it. Because of this, I grew very tired and frustrated of their incorrect billing and the cost it created for our small business. So I did what any smart business owner would do, I switched carriers.

According to Qwest we switched 8 months early. Had we continued itâd been about 4k for the âserviceâ but since I cancelled early, Qwest is demanding $12,000. THREE times what it would have cost to continue! WOW. Now I could understand that someone could make a claim for an actual loss because of an early termination. But to charge three times as much? I believe this to be a punishment for quitting their âserviceâ as they using the wrong start date to figure the termination charges.

Now I deal with a lot of faceless and dumb corporations every day but Qwest is by the worst company I have ever dealt with. Period. They are so unorganized itâs an absolute nightmare to work with them. I would warn any business thinking of or currently doing business with CenturyLink Qwest to have a HUGE team of attorneys because youâre going to need them to figure out the contract and to hold them to their end of the deal. And it would help if you really enjoy getting transferred around through a huge mess of people that donât want to help you and are confused as to why youâre interrupting them.

So let this be a warning to all businesses everywhere when you do business with Qwest that youâre playing with a VERY LARGE, DUMB, FACELESS, CORPORATION THAT WANTS YOU TO LOSE.

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Overcharge, embezzlement and theft

Posted by mountainhi14 on 09/19/2011

On 8/2 my account was debited $143.72 for payment of services through August. I cancelled all services on 8/7/11. I am now sent a bill for $94.16.

On 8/2 my account was debited $143.72 for all services provided under the Century Link agreement. This was telephone service and Dish Network TV service. On 8/5 all my services, were changed over to Optimum. I e-mailed and then called Century Link, to ensure the cancellation of services. I spoke to a representative whom I asked specifically, will I get a refund since I cancelled services after paying my bill for August and I only had service for 6 days? He told me I would receive a credit of two dollars and some change, after about 30 minutes I gave up. I asked about Dish Network he told me I needed to contact Dish Network; which I did. The representative for Dish Network told me I would receive a refund of about $76. Today I receive a bill for $96.84; which must be paid by August 30. Did they not cancel the service? I called when I received the bill, the number was 1-800-201-4099; I was transferred three times and then put on the forever hold button prior to hanging up. I am not paying this bill and I want my refund for my Dish Network services. This company should be out of business as they have no qualified help in the customer service department. There answer to my question of the billing, after only paying on August 2, two weeks ago and then having cancelled the service on August 7, only profiting from 5 days of service and now they want to charge me again??

This company needs an accountant who can competently figure out what amount of money was owed for the time period of August 2 to August 7 and give me the refund that I am entitled to. I want documentation of the account closure and I want it clearly spelled out that there are NO CHARGES pending.

On September 07, 2011, the business provided the following information:
CenturyLink Executive and Regulatory Services (ERS) researched the account and found that the bill cycle runs from the 7th of one month to the 7th of the next month. The bill for $143.72 printed on July 8, 2011 and was due for draft on August 1, 2011 which was prior to Ms. Jensen disconnecting telephone service. CenturyLink bills one month in advance and with the disconnect order completing on 8/5/11 that was after the due date of the July bill.

The August 8, 2011 billing statement should have issued credit for the days of the month that the service was not used. The August 8th billing statement did reflect credit for August 6-7th. The August 8th billing statement also had charges billed by Dish Network that were sent over on 7/28/11 prior to the service being disconnected. Additionally, there was a service order charge billed for the disconnect order in the amount $13.35. The final bill amount for August was $96.84 which included the Dish Network charges and the service order charge. Dish Network issued credit for $76.59 to cover the charges billed. ERS elected to issue credit for the service order charge. The final bill will print on 9/8/11 and is should be at a $0.00 balance.

ERS would like to thank you for the opportunity to address your concerns.

My response:

The above information is as clear as mud. A service charge was added for disconnection of service? Why did no one have knowledge of this when I called? Why are the consumers never told of this when they subscribe or when they disconnect?? What refund am I receiving and how much is it? Plainly, there should be no cost for the service for August 8; because I cancelled on August 7; so I am actually due a full refund. You already collected from Dish Network a refund on my behalf of $76.59; yet I have received NOTHING!Century Link has not only pocketed my $143.72; they have an additional $76.59 from Dish network. My account surely is profitable, for service I am not receiving!! I paid 143.72 so I can expect a refund of $143.72. Tell me in plain English what I am paying for, any fees or dues being deducted for the time period, and what refund I can expect to receive and WHEN I will receive it. Obviously I should receive all of my payment, since I cancelled prior to the start of the NEW BILLING CYCLE.
I paid by auto pay for five years and they never had to wait, or where inconvenienced by a late payment, yet when it comes time for a refund, it is already over a month and no refund. Just another bill! I suspect my money will remain in their savings account and they will continue to deny a refund! Send me a clear statement and my refund check. Process the claims for termination in a way that the consumer is not billed after the date of termination...long after. (almost a month)

NEW COMMUNICATION:

Today, August 15 I received a bill from centuryLink previous balance $94.16; payment credit $13.85; current charges $76.59 credit (refund from Dish for payment of service not rendered after 8/5/11) total due $3.72! They are still billing me for service I did not receive; the service was cancelled turned off the last day of the billing cycle August 7. Payment was made on August 1 for the month of August in the amount of $143.72. Since no service was rendered for the billing cycle that was collected for, all the funds should be refunded promptly. Dish network refunded $76.59 which should have been sent out to me, as a refund and not Century Link. Century Link did not pay the bill, the money for the bill payment came out of my bank account, thereby it was my refund and they stole it.
Also I should receive a refund from Century Link for the telephone service, as that was not provided during the last billing cycle, which they promptly deducted via autopay from my account. I want a full refund and an investigation into deceptive billing practices and fraud, as they obviously are not correctly billing and they are cheating customers by continually billing for services not rendered after the customer has had service stopped.

I also now received a bill form Dish Network for $30! They have reactivated my account or something, as the billing period shows from 9/13-10/12. They say we owe $30; and upon calling they are charging us the $30 for shipping charges to ship THEIR equipment back to them, which we did not order, it was here when we moved in and just chose to use their service! We also had to take the receiver part down and ship it, it took me about 2 hours to pack everything nice and neat, put in paper so it would not get shaken around and they are charging me??? they did not tell me when I called about returning equipment that there would be a fee of $30; I offered to drop the equipment off at the nearest Dish network service provider as I know there are some in the valley as they came to our house to hook us up and they said NO. They insisted we "mail" back the equipment, so they should pick up the charges. And my $76 refund, they claim I have to contact Century tel to get that back! You sent it there you get it back! UGGGH! Never use Century Tel or Dish network EVER, they are scamming people and stealing their money.

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Worst internet provider!! Stay away!!

Posted by Heather on 01/09/2014

Rating: 1/51

N/A, INDIANA -- Please, please, please DO NOT go with Internet Provider, you will be wasting your money! Horrible service and bad customer service! I signed up under the agreement of $69 a month for Internet and TV, well after receiving bills over $160 a month, I contacted Centurylink and was told " oh, that representative must have made a mistake, we will refer them to training" !? Upon further review I found out that this is a common issue that happens, they tell you one price, sign you up and you get charged whatever they decide and say oops, the representative made a mistake, nothing we can do and might we remind you of your contract with us! Well, it doesn't end there, if my internet actually worked that would be nice, it just stops and restarts about ( no joking) 20 times a day, if your in the middle of something, well you just have to wait for it to reboot and hope it doesn't just stop. I contacted customer support about that Also, " oh, it must be the cord we sent not fitting properly, sorry that is the only cord we have available for the WiFi"!!!! Really!??? Well, I moved to a new home and was told that my service would be on the same day, as I had called a month before I was moving to ensure installation.
Nope, no internet, called and was told " oh, something's wrong with the computer that has to update, please wait until tomorrow morning, it will be on by 7:00 am"-----Nope, that didn't happen either, called back and heard " sorry, it seems the computer hadn't updated, everything is fine, the tech has been there and said your good to go, just waiting on this update". Okay so three days later, still no internet, well surprise here comes a tech, he tells me he is here to check my place out to make sure all is good. huh? Thought the tech had already been here! Well seems he had to run all new lines as the ones I had weren't working. Funny, I was told all was good just waiting on an computer update!
The tech, told me straight out, the customer service people will lie right to you and gave me his number to call him personally if something happens, great guy!!
My internet still sucks, don't even gave Internet half the time, but I get the bill regularly..lol
So....stay away don't put yourself through the stress of this company!

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Fraudulent Billing CenturyLink

Posted by Priscilla on 02/16/2013

Rating: 1/51

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO -- FRAUDULENT BILLING CenturyLink.

My Recommendation to other consumers: NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH CenturyLink.

After 20+ years of satisfied service with Qwest Communications that was later bought by CenturyLink I became a very dissatisfied customer!

On March 10, 2012 I dropped ALL services (phone and internet) with CenturyLink communications and switched my service to Comcast (phone, internet and cable). Comcast assured me verBally that they port the service. I went through a detailed legal process of authorizing the change by phone.

After canceling my service, I received a paper bill from CenturyLink for $96.87 for an account number, which was NOT my former CenturyLink account number. I called CenturyLink multiple times and they informed me that a new account was established for Internet service. At no time after dropping my service with them on March 10, 2012 did I authorize or utilize their Internet service. This is fraudulent billing. I requested to be transferred to the manager and multiple agents refused to transfer my call saying the charges were sustained. The agent notified me that if I did not pay, I would be turned over to a collection agency.

August 17, 2012 I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

October 29, 2012 I received a collection notice from Convergent Outsourcing.

My Requested Resolution:
1) the fraudulent charges for unauthorized internet services be dropped and 2) the unauthorized account set up in my name should be retrieved by CenturyLink from the collection agency and 3) I do not want to receive any bills from CenturyLink 4) I want an apology letter for the pain and anguish and wasted time they have caused me.

I have received no resolution and it has been nearly one year since I canceled my service with CenturyLink.

My Recommendation to other consumers: NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH CenturyLink.

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Rip Offs!!

Posted by Sherry on 08/26/2012

Rating: 1/51

LONGMONT, COLORADO -- I have had service with this company at this address for a year. The entire year, my phone didn't work the way it should. When it rained or snowed or early in the morning when there is dew, there would be horrible static in the line. I had them come over maybe 8 times to try to repair whatever this was and was never charged a repair fee. I even asked them to come early in the morning when the problem was there which they did not do.

They came when they had time so of course the problem was not as obvious when they got here. After the last attempt at a repair, I found a card on my door telling me that my phone was fixed which it wasn't. I decided at this time to do something different for my home phone. I got the phone # ported and started my new service only to find that Centurylink had tacked on an $85.00 repair charge for their last feeble attempt at a repair. I have called several times to find out what the fee was for only to be argued with, lied to, insulted and treated like complete and total crap.

They put me on hold to do some research and didn't come back on more than one occasion. The little that I did find out was that because I finally had enough of their BS and went with another company, they are now saying that the problem is in my house which is why they are charging me the $85.00. The problem isn't in my house because you go outside and plug a phone in the box, you can hear the static out there.

This company is a bunch of thieves. I wouldn't recommend them for anything.

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Unreliable internet speed

Posted by Paladin_A on 04/12/2010

We've been signed up for Centurytel's 1.5 MBPs High speed internet for around 2 years now, I believe. When it first became available around here, it worked fairly decently. However, in the past year that has not been the case. Around the summer of last year, for around 3 months, my internet speed dropped from delivering 150-180kb/sec downloads to 70-80kb/sec speeds or lower. It stayed that way, constantly, for around 3 months. I put in a call to a centurytel tech, only to have him come out, say there was nothing wrong, and leave. Well, that didn't help my internet speed. I know for a fact that it was not my computer, for I keep my windows updates current, my anti-virus software updated, and I have 2 different spyware scanners. I run weekly/bi-weekly scans for viruses and spyware. I also know it was not my router, because I unplugged the router and tried plugging directly into the modem, to no effect. And according to the centurytel tech, there's nothing wrong with the modem. We also have 2 computers in the household, both giving the same speeds.

Ever since the 3-month drop last summer, internet speed has been unreliable at best. I would have good days, where I would have no internet issues at all, then there would be horrible days where I would see drops to as low as 20-50 kb/sec. Not to mention that these are not peak internet surfing times, so it should not have anything to do with the ISP's servers getting too much traffic. These speeds will carry on into 12-4 A.M.

Currently, and for the past 2-3 weeks, I've been getting drops again into the 80-100kb/sec range. That's not as bad as last summer, but it still makes playing games online/watching videos very frustrating.

If there was another ISP choice in my area to switch to that wasn't dial-up, I would have taken it long ago; early termination fee or not.

I find it interesting to note that as of right now, centurytel's rating on speedtest.net is a 2.4/5, which is more than I would give them at this point.

Company Response 05/19/2010:PaladinA,

My name is Joey and I'm with CenturyLink. Sorry to read about the trouble you've been having with your DSL service. I'll be glad to help you out. Can you email me your name, account/phone number, and any additional details on the issue? My email is Joey@CenturyLink.com. Thanks.

Joey H
CenturyLink Customer Outreach
Reachout@CenturyLink.com

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Slammed and Empty Promises

Posted by Lupara on 11/25/2009

I usually don't look at my bill, since all the taxes and fees drive me crazy. We only have our landline since our cell reception inside the house is inconsistent at best. Today I decided to look at our bill, since its now CentryLink, and found that there was a $5 charge on our plan that we didn't ask for. Turns out the last time I called in fall of 2008 to get rid of the junk we had on our service that we didn't need, our service was switched to the basic (that we wanted) but added on was selective call rejection (that we don't want). Now they're telling me someone from our home added it, although my husband and I did not, and our 6-year-old wouldn't know how to even dial the company. The "service" has been removed from our bill, with a $5 credit--gee, thanks--but no way to adjust for the year of erroneous charges. THE LESSON is to read your bills every month, since even the people and companies you think are allies are not, everyone is out to get money in any way possible, even and especially behind your back. The killing of an optimist; sad, isn't it?

THE OTHER ISSUE IS INTERNET: We've been here for 11 years now, and although we're only 2 miles from the county seat and have been promised internet "next year" every year for 10 years, we still don't have it. Our friends who live in the middle of chicken farms for miles around have it, but we don't. AAAAAAAARGHHHHH! We like Verizon's broadband, but in this day and age would like DSL to access and provide information & uploads for work & pleasure.

I'm not into violence or drugs, so what is a frustrated, wronged person to do? Makes me want to scrap everything, buy a horse & sheep and go live on our back 90, unfettered by "technology". Or meditate...Ohhhmmmmm. Or realize that while this situation is as aggravating as all getout, in the grand scheme of things it's insignificant. I'm grateful to have a good brain, body and home, with a good job and loving family. I'm counting my blessings on this Thanksgiving eve and cursing the ruthless companies underneath.

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Order Confirmation for Voice Mail but No Voice Mail

Posted on 08/22/2014

Rating: 1/51

DENVER, COLORADO -- I ordered a package from Century Link which included voice mail and received a confirmation thereof. However, when I tried to set up my mailbox I was asked for a username which I did not have. I called customer service and was told that I did not have voice mail as part of my package. When I said that it was in my order confirmation, the representative just ignored me and repeated that it was not part of my package. After about an hour on the phone with four separate people I was told voice mail would be set up three days later. I had to escalate in order to make it nine hours later. I guess it's time to shop for another provider.

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Double Billed Thru Direct TV

Posted by Sandy on 02/08/2014

Rating: 1/51

CASA GRANDE, ARIZONA -- I have direct TV through Century Link. My monthly bill has been $93 until this month when it was $158. I talked to Century Link for 3 days going through 9 people and using up a lot of cell phone minutes. Century link told me that Direct TV had double billed them. Direct TV told me that is not true. Century link told me I had to pay the full amount anyway.

I asked if my next month bill would be a $0 balance and was told I will receive a full bill next month. How can they bill me for 3 months and supply 2 months of service? I will wait until next month to see if I get a credit and if not, I will go to the BBB and AZ attorney general's office.